The Wipers, C or D? (and several others, too)

Youth Of America is undeniable however

Into this band for sure. Finding them after the Hot Snakes was cool cause I got to have a eureka moment w/r/t the origins of their 'downstroke warlordism.'

But there's always been two major obstacles holding me back from further developing my fandom: (1) the vibe is so unrelentingly bleak and humorless that even when I'm achieving peak personal enjoyment, I struggle to ignore my happy fundamental self calling me a poser for pretending to be more depressed than I really am. Willfully cultivating angsty teenage loser moods is pretty nagl for a grown man imo. I just like guitars! (2) name always always always makes me think of wiping butts

timely revive, I listened to the entire 3CD in the truck last week

"Better Off Dead" is goddamn incredible and it bums me out so much that Greg didn't put that single on the box set

Is This Real still my fave for the concise approach, I feel like Youth Of America is maybe 4 minutes too long, and the note about the extra tracks being not as good is otm. Great stuff, though, I listened to all of it with pleasure.

"When It's Over" is the most hypnotic song ever released.

"Doom Town" always reminds me of "Dirty Boots" for some reason.

Things I didn't know: Sam Henry was in a pre-Dead Moon band https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Henry_(musician)#The_Wipers and gives drum lessons http://www.samhenrydrums.com/

I haven't listened to the Wipers in ages but for some reason or other Over The Edge is my number one jam today

Song, album or both?

The title track is an all-timer for me, but the while things is great

The instrumental breakdowns after the “over the eeeeeeeeeeedge!” parts are just everything to me

started with the song, is now the album

If I ever get into a fistfight I’m going to ask the other person to wait a minute while I put the title track on speakers

excellent guitar work throughout, sort of a thin mean sound that occasionally catches you off guard with little expressive bits

Haven’t listened to this in ages but I should

for me Wipers sound is the perfect intersection of neil young/melvins/husker du. so basically the perfect band.

basically, sad ass urban 80s lonerism

...so perfect for these times.

the wipers are so needed in these times of no toilet paper

definitely a lot of sad asses around

I would characterize the wipers (at least their first few) as “sad” so much as doom and gloom. Which yes, is very 2020 right now

would _not_ characterize, I meant

Doom and desperation

DOOM TOWN

I was revisiting the first Sonic Youth EP the other day, and when the sung melody of "She Is Not Alone" came on, I was like, "Wait...where is that melody from?!" I eventually realized it's the opening notes of "Youth of America". Knowing that SY was a fan of the Wipers, first I thought they might have (subconsciously?) borrowed that melody; but the "Youth of America" album apparently came out in Nov 1981 (per Wikipedia), and SY had been playing "She Is Not Alone" live in 1981 (before November) before going into the studio (Dec '81, Jan '82) for the EP. So maybe it's just a coincidence?

Interesting observation. Though I must admit that i do not hear any resemblance of the two song tunes at all. Sonic Youth is much more drum and percussion oriented (those cowbells!) than guitar oriented as on later releases. Or let's say the guitar is played in a rather rhythmic way. They seem still to be searching for their own sound.

Best band ever

^. sucks all the vinyl reissues in last few years have been so expensive though.

so classic, for much more than the first three records that get all the attention